Life after the train ride
by pumpkinjuicy
Summary: Harry and Ron have the "talk." This is the sequel to Last train ride to Hogwarts. Harry and the gang are off the train (finally) and starting another exciting school year at Hogwarts. This story begins about a week after their first day of class. HPGWRWHG
1. The talk

Chapter 1

"Ron, can we talk for a sec?" Harry asked peering down at Ron who was sprawled on his bed face down still wearing his school robes.

"Yo," Ron replied lifting his head from his pillow.

"Yo?"

Ron shrugged as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "I thought I'd give it a try. What's up mate?"

They were in their dormitory along with roommates Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas, all of who had already retired to their four-poster beds. Ron and Harry had walked in just moments ago from the common room downstairs after _(finally)_ finishing a long, exhausting homework essay (12 inches of parchment) for Professor Snape.

Harry cleared his throat as he sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. "It's about me and Ginny."

"You have my blessing, mate, if that's what this is about."

"Er-well, yeah sorta...Ron, I care about her a _lot._ I don't think there will be anyone else for me. _Ever._ But you know, I'm sure we, _Ginny and I,_ we're bound to fight and stuff at times. And if that happens, I er-I don't want that to affect us, _you and me,_ in any way."

"You guys are fighting?" Ron asked suddenly sounding alarmed.

"No, I said _if_..."

"Ok..._if_ you two fight, what would be the reason? What would you do to her to cause a fight?" Ron demanded.

"N-nothing! I mean I hope I'll never do anything...but _Ron _it's _normal_ to fight. Aren't there times when Hermione bugs you?"

"Are you saying Ginny sometimes _bugs_ you?!?"

"No, no! I said _Hermione!"_

"And _what_ is wrong with my 'mione?!?"

"Nothing! Oh bloody hell! This is exactly what I'm talking about!"

"What?"

"This!" Harry yelled waving his hand violently in the space between Ron and himself. "You and me fighting about our girlfriends! This is exactly what I was saying I want to avoid!"

"Oh..."

"Yeah...look, Ron. I don't want my relationship with Ginny to affect you and me, ever. _Deal?"_ asked Harry stretching out the same arm he was waving madly just before toward his best friend.

"Yeah, ok. Deal." Ron said grinning as he took Harry's hand in his.

The two boys shook their hands firmly.

"Ok, great!" Harry said happily as he jumped off Ron's bed and practically skipped toward the dormitory door. It was as if a huge load was lifted off his chest. "Well, g'night!" he called out just before turning the handle open.

Ron yawned and plopped back down in bed. "It's almost midnight. Where are you off to?" he asked smiling sleepily at his friend.

"I'm meeting Ginny at the Astronomy Tow-"

"WHAT?!?!?" cried Ron who was now wide awake.

"Shhh!" Harry hissed. Seamus made a grunting noise as he turned away from them in his bed and Neville murmured something that sounded like "Mmrrph"

"Sorry," Ron whispered. "Why are you meeting _my_ baby sister at the _Astronomy Tower?"_ Ron's hushed voice demanded.

Harry knew he had to think quickly.

"I-I'm meeting Ginny at the Astronomy Tower because...because she's up there with her class right now. I thought I'd go bring her a cup of hot cocoa." He was thankful it was dark in the dormitory for Ron couldn't see the horrid look of guilt across his face.

"Oh," Ron said skeptically as he slowly leaned back in bed again, still eyeing Harry in the darkness.

"Well then...good night!" repeated Harry as he spun around colliding into the hard wooden door. He forgot he hadn't opened it yet. Rubbing his nose and cursing under his breath, he turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open.

"Harry?" It was Neville's sleepy voice.

"What, Neville?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Ginny doesn't have Astronomy tonight, she has it tomorrow. I know because Luna has it with her and I memorized her schedule. Listen, we can go together tomorrow night. I bet Luna would like cocoa too."

Silence.

More silence.

Then-

"Oh, er-right...great...Thank you so much Neville. I almost went up there for no reason whatsoever," Harry said hoping the murderous sarcasm in his voice wasn't too obvious.

It wasn't.

"No problem, Harry. Good night, Ron," Neville said softly.

"Night Neville!" Ron answered almost too cheerfully, though this may have just been Harry's imagination.

Harry closed the door slowly, the reflection of the warm fire in the common room's fireplace disappearing behind the wooden structure. His shoulders weighed down heavily with disappointment. As he dragged himself back toward his bed, he passed by Neville's and felt a strong urge to transfigure his friend's white fluffy pillow into some sort of a man-eating plant. Fortunately for Neville, Harry knew no man-eating plants.

Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over him. _Ginny. _She was probably up there right now, waiting for him. He could just see her standing there all by herself shivering in the cold, shadowy night. (Note to readers: it is still only the second week of September. It is rather quite warm and comfortable outside. Harry is just being paranoid) _I hope she took her cloak,_ he thought to himself. Then, to his horror, he pictured hormone-raging teenage boys surrounding her and tugging on her cloak asking her if she was out looking for a good time while she helplessly backed into a wall. (Note to readers: this would most likely _never_ happen at Hogwarts. Again, Harry is being paranoid.)

Harry dashed to his bed and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak from under. He threw it on not caring whether Ron or anyone else saw what he was up to and ran back towards the dormitory door. Without hesitation, he threw it open and was about to step out when-

"Harry, wait." It was Ron. He _had_ seen what Harry was doing and was sitting up in bed.

"Ron, listen. I'm sorry I lied to you," Harry spoke hastily as he removed the cloak over his head. "But she's waiting for me now and-"

"Don't Harry. Don't say sorry. I trust you with my sister and I shouldn't have made you think otherwise. Just, just one thing..." Ron was thankful it was dark in the dormitory for Harry couldn't see the look of sheer embarrassment across his face. "If you two were going to...er-you know... you _know_..."

"_What?"_ Harry asked annoyingly.

"Hveex..." Ron mumbled.

"_What?"_ Harry repeated angrily.

"Have sex!" Ron inadvertently yelled.

Seamus, Neville and Dean's heads all shot up at once from their pillows with the quickness.

Seamus (half-awake): "Who said sex?"

Neville (fully awake): "What about sex?"

Dean (half-asleep): "Ron, you git, that is _not_ how you ask a girl to have sex with you."

"I was talking to _Harry,_" Ron said amusingly glancing over at Dean's side of the room.

Dean (still half-asleep): "Ron, you git, that is _not_ how you ask Harry to have sex with you."

"Aargh, gross! Shut it Dean! Go back to sleep!" Ron hissed as he got up. "Harry, come on. I'll walk you out."

Harry nodded and together they made their way down to the deserted common room where the fire was still glowing in the fireplace. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ron turned to Harry. "Harry..."

"Yo," Harry said smiling.

Ron laughed quietly.

"Look, Ron," Harry began appearing quite serious now. "Ginny and I are _not_ you know, doing _that_...not even close. But if we were to, I need you to understand that most likely I will _not_ be coming to you first to discuss it. I don't think Ginny will like that anyways."

Ron nodded.

"But I will promise you this. I won't lie to you anymore. I'm really sorry that I did. Ginny and I made plans to meet tonight at the Tower not to you know, do _that,_ but just to be alone and talk and stuff. Really."

Ron couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, right. Well that's good. Yeah, you guys should talk and stuff. So listen Harry if you don't mention any of this to Gin, that'll be really, really great."

This time Harry laughed. "No problem. Well, I really should go. I'm already late."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Harry waved and stepped out of the portrait hole before he stopped and poked his head back in. "Ron?"

"Yo," Ron spun around, his right foot on the first step up to the dormitory.

"Have you and Hermione..._you know_...yet?"

Ron's face flushed. "Er-well...we sort of, I mean we almost..." his voice trailed off. Then he sighed loudly. "I'll tell you next time, mate. It's a rather long, pitiful story."

Harry didn't know whether to smile or look sympathetic, so he did neither. He simply nodded and said "Right," and then he was gone.


	2. The Astronomy Tower

Chapter 2

Ginny plopped her elbows on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower and sighed. _Goodness they weren't kidding, _she told herself as she uneasily glanced behind her. When Professor Sinistra wasn't up here teaching lessons, the place was swarming with snogging couples. Even Slytherin's power couple Malfoy and Pansy was taking advantage of this unused private space, though Ginny couldn't see it for herself (which was more than fine with her.) They were perfectly hidden from view behind the shadows of Crabbe and Goyle, who stood side by side in front of them with their arms crossed over their chest as if they were protecting someone very important, not a horny teenage ferret and his pug-like girlfriend.

_He's late,_ she thought glumly as she looked down at her watch. _Hurry Harry, please._ It was one thing to be solo in a room full of couples. It was another to be alone in such place when every couple there was sucking on each other's faces. She sighed again, this time louder to try and drown out the sound of moaning and groaning that sounded awfully like little Dennis Creevey's. Ew.

"Ginny! Ginny!" It was Harry (_thank goodness!_) and by the looks of it, he seemed to have sprinted up the long staircase to the Tower. He was jogging towards her, breathing rather heavily (unless that was also coming from Dennis. Ew) clutching what she recognized right away as his Invisibility Cloak in one hand and the side of his stomach with the other. When he reached her, he let go of his cloak, letting it slide to the ground and grabbed her by the shoulder. She could see small beads of sweat forming across his forehead. After a few long intakes of oxygen, he began to speak very fast.

"Oh Ginny, I'm so sorry! –gasp- Were you waiting long? Oh I'm such a git making you wait here all by yourself...are you ok? –gasp- Did any guys try anything on you? Are you cold? Are you _sure_ you're ok? –gasp- Did I ask you that already? Oh Ginny, I'm sorry! I'm-"

Ginny gently pressed her fingers over Harry's lips and "shh"ed him.

Harry obeyed and closed his mouth.

"It's ok, really. I just got here myself," she lied. "No one tried anything Harry, as you can see all hands here are _very _occupied," she said smiling as Harry peered over her shoulder and saw for the first time the large gathering of snoggers in the background. He spotted Dennis Creevey clumsily trying to undo his female companion's buttoned cardigan as he licked the side of his mouth. "Ew..." Harry said quietly at the sight.

"Dennis?" Ginny asked without turning around.

"Yeah..."

Ginny grinned. "And _Harry,_ I am not cold. It's rather quite beautiful tonight, don't you think?" she said looking up at the magnificent star-filled sky.

"Er-yeah..." Harry repeated feeling more foolish by the second.

"It's all right," Ginny assured him as if she read his mind. "It's sweet of you to worry. Although I already have Ron in charge of _that_ department."

"Speaking of your brother..." Harry began.

"What? Did he say something? Oh I knew it!" she cried hotly. "I bet he acted like a nutter when you told him you were meeting me here, didn't he? Oh I'll tell him tomorrow at breakfast-"

"He said he trusts me with you," Harry said loudly.

Ginny blinked. Harry beamed.

"Wh-What else did he say?" Ginny asked feeling quite flabbergasted.

"Well, he said a bunch of stuff before that. Nothing too important, don't worry. But the last thing he said was that he trusts you with me."

"Wow..." Ginny breathed.

"Wow is right," Harry said cheerfully. "Well enough about Ron! What did you wanna show me, Ginny?"

"Oh!" Ginny's face lit up with delight. "Come on, we need to go er-west! Right, west!" she exclaimed taking Harry's hand in hers and leading the way. Harry picked up his father's cloak and happily followed.

The west side of the Tower was a bit less crowded much to Ginny and Harry's relief. Once there, Ginny had let go of Harry's hand not before squeezing it gently first then began pacing around the ground with her head up toward the sky. Harry curiously watched as his girlfriend craned her neck in every direction biting down her lower lip frantically in search of something, though he wasn't sure what. Then after a minute or so passed...

"Ooh! I found it!" Ginny squealed.

Harry slowly walked over to her from behind and kissed the back of her head as he wrapped both his arms around her slim shoulders. "Congratulations, love. Though I haven't a clue what it is that you found."

Ginny giggled as she clutched onto Harry's strong arms. "Look up, up there. A little over to the right," she instructed as she stretched out her right arm and pointed above to the spot she was referring to.

Harry craned his neck back and gazed up the clear starry sky. He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to be looking for but continued to stare up at where Ginny was pointing. Then...he saw it.

Amidst the millions of twinkling yellow stars perfectly embedded in the vast black sky, two stars prominently stood out and sparkled like radiant jewels. One was brilliant emerald green, just like Harry's piercing eyes and the other a fiery ruby red, matching the color of Ginny's luminous hair.

"Wow...that's...that's us up there," Harry breathed in awe.

Ginny slowly lowered her hand and grasped both of Harry's arms again. "Yeah, isn't it just _amazing?"_ she asked him softly as she rested the back of her head against his shoulder. "When I heard about these stars, I just had to come see it with you...I-I named them after us," she said hurriedly. "Is that silly of me?"

Harry shifted his body around so they were now face to face. He took both her hands into his and brought it up to his chest. "I think it's just perfect," he said softly as he leaned in to kiss her. She felt herself blush as she lifted her head to welcome his kiss. The kiss was just perfect as well.

About twenty minutes later, they slowly made their way back to their dormitory, hand in hand, safely tucked under Harry's cloak. Once inside the common room, Harry lifted the cloak off over their heads and walked Ginny to the girl's dormitory entrance.

"So how did you hear about those stars anyway?" he asked curiously as they reached just outside of the door.

Ginny grinned. "Oh, our dear friend Hermione read about it in her new Astronomy book and shared the bit of information with me. It was actually all her idea. She thought it would be romantic for us to go see it together."

_Good ol' mione,_ Harry thought to himself, smiling.

"And," Ginny continued. "She claimed they are _very _rare. They can only be seen once every three years on the second Tuesday of September at exactly midnight."

"Wow..."

"Wow is right. Now enough about Hermione!" Ginny said gleefully mocking Harry's speech earlier.

Harry laughed.

"Good night love," Harry said warmly as he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Night darling."

"Darling?"

Ginny shrugged, her ears slightly pink. "Thought I'd give it a try...You don't like?"

"It's...ok...I guess" Harry said rather uncertainly.

"Sweetie?"

"That's fine..."

"Honey?"

"Er-sure..."

"Baby?"

"Why not..."

"Potty?"

"Hmm...Hey that's what _Malfoy_ calls me!"

"Oh...Oh!" Ginny gasped clasping a hand over her mouth. Then she broke into fits of giggle. "I'm sorry! No wonder it sounded familiar! Well it _did_ sound cuter in my head...really."

"I can't believe _you_ just called me Potty..." Harry did his best to look insulted.

"I didn't!" Ginny cried defensively between giggles. "It was an accident...Oh forget it, I'll just call you _Harry_ like everyone else," she said grimly.

"You know you said, "Harry, dear," to me in my dream that day..." (A/N: _for all you readers who are not familiar to his "dream" please read chapter 1 of my first story Last train ride to Hogwarts...Yes, I am taking this opportunity to promote it. My apologies...)_

"Really?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Yup. And I called you love," Harry said grinning.

"_Harry, dear..."_ Ginny said thoughtfully. "I like that!"

"We have a winner!" Harry exclaimed with joy.

Ginny beamed. "Ok, we must start over. Kiss me goodnight again."

"Can we alter it a bit so this time I kiss your lips?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Certainly."

"Can we change it some more so we're laying down on the couch with you on top of me?"

"Certainly," Ginny began.

Harry's face lit up.

..._not._" Ginny finished.

Harry's face fell. "That is just mean! _First Potty, now this..."_ he muttered.

"_Harry,"_ Ginny said warningly.

"Oh all right..." Harry grumbled although he was grinning. "Good night love," he repeated as he placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder and lowered his lip to hers softly.

"Good night sweetie," Ginny said playfully.

"I thought it's _Harry, dear," _he reminded.

Silence.

More silence.

Then-

"Ok...one more time. Kiss me goodnight again."

Harry's face lit up.


End file.
